Two-time champ Dave Targonski records
his moves, presumably for later study, in his game against Ted
Drozd. Ted moved on to make the elimination rounds.

Former champs collide as Mike Kaye
is paired with Alan Applebaum while Jeff Cornett battles another
former champ, Darren Kilfara, in the background.

Rising
Sun

73 matches overall - 65 Swiss and eight of the new single
elimination games combined to crown Mike Kaye as the 2009 Champion.

The bids jumped this year - games with a bid averaged 4.4275,
vs 2008's 3.974 POC average, a half POC increase. Overall
bids (including four games with no bid) averaged 4.1849, compared
to last year's 3.827.

This year's change to a Swiss-Elim format finally brought a Final
into play after 18 years of pure swiss! The top eight
advanced from the fierce Swiss rounds to quarter-finals. One
5-0, followed by three 4-1s advanced automatically. Eight
3-2 players matched strength-of-schedule stats to determine which
four would advance to the elimination rounds.

During the Swiss competition, an unusual situation occurred in
the game between Greg Smith (IJN) and Vince Meconi (Allies). I
looked at their board to see Australia wearing a RED PORT symbol
- taken by the Japanese. In addition, Ceylon was also
taken by the IJN. I had never seen that combination in any game. Of
course, Vince's Allies (mostly the USN) pressed their advantage
in the east, since most of the IJN was busy with the Royal Navy
and capturing western lands. Nevertheless, Greg's
Japanese held on for a net 5.5 POC win.

One semi-final pitted Ed Menzel against Darren Kilfara. Ed
took the Allies and 4.5 POC against Darren's IJN in a SEASAW
battle that ran a full eight turns, with Darren's IJN finally
scoring the win because the IJN LBA held Hawaii!

The other semi-final saw Mike Kay's IJN take on Pat Richardson's
Allies with a 6.0 bid. Early turns were nip and tuck,
with Pat boring holes in the IJN perimeter as the POC mounted. Pat
snatched bases from the Japanese, making inroads against the
IJN flags. The crowning point on Turn 6 occurred as
the Allies drove for Indonesia bases. The IJN sank
the Marine, the Allies missed Yokosuka, and the Philippines fell
to the Yokosuka SNLF. Losing that key base, the Allies
conceded.

In the Final, Mike Kaye bid 5.5 for the Japanese, so Darren Kilfara
lined up Battleship Row for the Pearl Harbor strikes. Turn
2, Darren dared Mike with five USN CVs in three areas. Losing
four (including one to the mighty Hosho and one to the I-Boat)
put Darren in a tight spot. While seeming risky, Darren's
exposure of all five Allied CVs pitted the USN against the smaller
IJN CVs. Darren's calculations showed that the expected
outcome would be two, perhaps three USN CVs sunk. Unfortunately,
the dice do have a way of sometimes "exceeding our expectations!" Turn
3, Darren's LBA in Hawaii had a tough time, losing five of six
Allied LBA in the first round while only max damaging one IJN
CV and disabling another. With Pearl Harbor under
IJN rule, Mike pressed in later turns. Darren fought
back until a large battle in the South Pacific on Turn 5 went
the wrong way giving the IJN too much of an advantage. Darren's
Allies conceded.

My thanks to all of the loyal players whose attendance and assistance
over the years have made running this tournament a pleasure.
Next year will see a new VIP GM: Charlie Drozd has offered to
take on the task. He will be assisted by a team of
experienced players to allow him to both GM and play effectively.

Dave Gubbay and Mike Pustilnik trade
incoming air raids in one of the five swiss rounds filled with
veteran players.

Not surprisingly, the Final paired
two former champs, this time it was Darren Kilfara and Mike Kaye.